The BNP wants to be seen as a ‘real’ political party, as opposed to a party for Nazi fantasists.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Women’s Right Activist Beheaded in Iraqi Kurdistan
Dec 21st, 2008 | By Azar MajediNahla Hussain, a women’s rights activist and the leader of the women’s league of the Kurdish Communist Party and mother of two children, was beheaded at her house in Kirkuk, in north of Iraq. She was alone in the house at the time of her death. According to the police some unidentified men entered her house on Thursday night, but the circumstances that led to the attack are unknown.
However, violence against women who do not observe Islamic laws and dress code has become a common phenomenon in Iraq. Women’s rights activists, secularists and communists are under constant threats by different reactionary factions, including the Islamists.
In the context of Iraqi society, “the circumstances that led to her death” are … Read the rest
Whatever your conscience tells you must be right
Dec 21st, 2008 11:57 am | By Ophelia BensonHow do Bush’s exciting new ‘conscience’ rules work, anyway? What exactly do they rule in, and out? Are there any limits? I haven’t seen any mentioned in the news coverage so far.
Well I suppose I’ll just have to look at the rules themselves – though not all 132 pages of them if I can help it. But judging by the Health and Human Services page on the subject, they haven’t ruled anything out. It’s just a matter of ‘conscience’ and ‘personal beliefs.’ So no matter what damn fool thing you believe, you have the ‘right’ to deny medical services to anyone and everyone as long as you announce that it’s a matter of your conscience. Worse than that, … Read the rest
These old men dress up in frocks to go to work
Dec 21st, 2008 11:28 am | By Ophelia BensonIan McKellen is pleasingly blunt.
The actor Sir Ian McKellen has said he fears that a growing number of faith schools are preaching religious doctrines — such as teaching that homosexuality is a sin — inside the classroom…”It worries me that there is an increasing number of faith schools in this country where it might be thought appropriate for religious views to invade the classroom. If that’s happening, those kids are getting a second-class education.”
Indeed they are, which is why ‘faith’ schools are a bad stupid idea. ‘Faith’ and ‘school’ don’t really belong together – they are in tension, at least if ‘school’ is understood (as it should be) in a modern secular sense. It is possible to … Read the rest
No hijab no service
Dec 20th, 2008 1:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd for more obnoxious offensive intrusion by busybody theocrats, there’s Turkey.
A report in Turkey has highlighted “very worrying” evidence of increased discrimination against secular Turks…It details widespread social pressure on non-devout Muslims to attend Friday prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan or wear a headscarf…It suggests that a government policy of making appointments to local administrations on the basis of political and religious beliefs, rather than competence, is forcing non-devout Turks to change their habits in order to protect their business or their jobs.
Ooh – that sounds familiar. What does that remind me of? It’s right on the tip of my tongue…
… Read the restThe report cites page upon page of examples: non-religious nurses put on permanent night
Mind your own god damn business
Dec 20th, 2008 1:02 pm | By Ophelia BensonBush strikes again – enacting last-minute sweeping regulations, this time to protect religious bigots who refuse to do their jobs.
The far-reaching regulation cuts off federal funding for any state or local government, hospital, health plan, clinic or other entity that does not accommodate doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other employees who refuse to participate in care they find ethically, morally or religiously objectionable. It was sought by conservative groups, abortion opponents and others to safeguard workers from being fired, disciplined or penalized in other ways.
For refusing to do the jobs they were hired to do, and for obstructing other people’s ability to get needed care.
… Read the restThe rule comes at a time of increasingly frequent reports of conflicts between
Rules to Protect Pharmacists Who Refuse
Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonProtects medical workers who refuse to participate in care they find ‘morally or religiously objectionable.’… Read the rest
The Einstein Controversy
Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRobert Schulmann, John Stachel and Gerald Holton on PBS’s error-filled ‘Einstein’s Wife’… Read the rest
Jacob Zuma Sues Cartoonist
Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonZapiro said he used Lady Justice to represent the South African judicial system.… Read the rest
Conservative Theists Outbreed Secular Types
Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligious people have more babies than non-believers–and not just for the obvious reasons.… Read the rest
Man Offers Shoe-thrower a Bride
Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat the prospective bride might think is not mentioned.… Read the rest
Secular Turks Face Discrimination
Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNon-religious nurses put on permanent night shift; landlords refusing hijabless female tenants.… Read the rest
Women’s Rights Activist Killed in Kirkuk
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIraqi police say attackers decapitated the leader of the women’s league of the Kurdish Communist Party.… Read the rest
Obama Defends Rick Warren Invitation
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhy, of all the pastors in the US, choose one who campaigned for Prop 8 and compares abortion to the Holocaust?… Read the rest
UN Urges States to Decriminalize Homosexuality
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonProposal has ‘provoked the ire’ of the Vatican and some majority-Muslim countries.… Read the rest
Vatican Sets Us All Straight on Human Rights
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHuman rights mean: right to life, respect for the family, marriage as the union between a man and a woman.… Read the rest
UN Again Votes to Ban ‘Defamation’ of Religion
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Islamic states say such resolutions do not aim to limit free speech but to stop publications like the Motoons.’… Read the rest
Islington Council Wins Appeal
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLillian Ladele’s solicitor reacts with a torrent of gibberish.… Read the rest
Michelle Goldberg on Rick Warren
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe compares legal abortion to the Holocaust and gay marriage to incest and paedophilia.… Read the rest
Gibberish
Dec 19th, 2008 11:54 am | By Ophelia BensonAnd then there’s Lillian Ladele’s solicitor.
Ms Ladele’s solicitor Mark Jones said she would now take her case to the Court of Appeal. He added: “She wants to make it clear that, whatever other commentators may have said, this case has never been an attempt to undermine the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender communities. The evidence showed that Lillian performed all of her duties to the same high standard for the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender communities, as she did for everyone. This case has been about the shortfall between the principle of equal dignity and respect for different lifestyles and world views, and Islington Council’s treatment of Lillian Ladele…
Uh – what? What … Read the rest